“What shall I eat?” Though seems like a simple question, there are many variables that often make it a time-consuming endeavor. We often need to choose among many dishes based on the caloric value, nutrition, and taste. Once we have decided what to eat, it will take more time and effort to get the ingredients, cook, serve, and eat the dish, and clean afterwards.

Of course, you can eat in a restaurant or have a meal delivered but there is still waiting time. Furthermore, such meals hardly offer perfect nutrition. Some of them have too many calories; others contain an excessive amount of sodium or artificial seasonings. It is not an exaggeration to say busy modern people consume their personal time and nutritional imbalance along with a meal.

Food substitute products that can resolve this problem are in the spotlight these days. One of such products is Grain Powder Mix produced by agricultural export corporation Design Nongboo.

An Ambitious Young Farmer Realizes His Dream

Design Nongboo, located in Jeonju of North Jeolla Province, was started in 2011 by an ambitious young farmer who wanted to lead the transformation of Korean agriculture. When Kim Yo-sum took over a family farm cultivating various kinds of grains including rice, green kernel black beans, and small peas, he realized that things had to be changed. Kim recalls, “Even though the online food market was rapidly expanding due to the increasing number of single households, no rice or other grain products were available to match this trend. That is why I decided to establish Design Nongboo and develop small-sized rice and grain products for sales online.” Thanks to Kim’s ability to read market trends well, his company soon became a stable business.

However, the young farmer did not want to settle down yet. He caught another trend—convenience food—and started developing processed grain products. The result was instant grain powder. Kim says, “The global meal substitute market is rapidly growing as a result of popularity of protein powder developed by Soylent and other startups in Silicon Valley. My products have been developed using high-quality Korean ingredients.”

Becomes a Nutritious Meal with Just Some Milk or Water
The Grain Powder Mix, launched by Design Nongboo in 2013, is a futuristic product that becomes a meal if you simply add some milk or a cup of water. With this product, consuming necessary daily nutrition is as convenient as making instant cocoa from a pouch. Another advantage of the product is that it uses only safe grains produced in Korea, such as barley, brown rice, glutinous rice, black beans, black rice, white beans, sorghum, and black sesame seeds. In fact, 80% of the ingredients are procured through cultivation agreements with thirty farms in North Jeolla Province, and the rest are purchased through the nationwide organization of agricultural cooperatives, Nonghyup. Kim said, “We go beyond simply replacing a meal; we try to satisfy health needs.”

Design Nongboo’s products receive a particularly favorable reception from young business women. They enjoy being able to have a healthy meal and like that the packaging has a sophisticated design with beautiful colors. Recently, the company developed a new product using red beans which are considered effective in dieting. It targets those who make time in their busy schedules to exercise with the objective of losing weight but cannot have meals at appropriate times. The product allows such people to have a nutritious meal good for the diet and convenient to make.

Welcomed by Dieters in the US and Southeast Asia
Design Nongboo turned its attention to the international market just two years ago, in 2016. Its main market is the US, the world’s largest market for protein powder and other healthy shakes. Kim said proudly, “I participated in an overseas expo for the first time in 2016, and American buyers immediately showed a lot of interest in Design Nongboo’s products. I was told they are healthier and taste better than many other healthy shakes.”

The company shipped US$65 million worth of products to the US in the second half of 2017. Early this year, Kim signed an MOU with a Vietnamese health food company and is preparing the first shipment to Vietnam. Kim said, “We have just entered the international market, and we have already received so much attention. We will analyze local market trends and apply our findings to the products in order to expand the exports.”

Additional Information
The best ways to use the Grain Powder Mix, according to Kim Yo-sum

1. Put one pack of Grain Powder Mix into 200ml of milk and shake.
2. If you do not like milk, you can use 200ml of water instead. Add a spoon of honey to enrich the flavor of the grains.
3. Grain Powder Mix can be used as topping on shakes and smoothies as well as salads.
4. The product can give cake a softer flavor if you sprinkle it on the top along powdered sugar.